War in the Middle East: the latest developments

Here are the latest developments on Wednesday related to the war in the Middle East, where the ceasefire in force since April 8 was weakened at the start of the week:

. Middle East: Beijing calls for a “complete” and immediate end to hostilities

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for a “complete” end to hostilities in the Middle East and called on the United States and Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz “as quickly as possible,” during talks in Beijing with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.

“On the nuclear issue, China welcomes Iran’s commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, while recognizing that Iran has the legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” he added.

. Hormuz: CMA CGM confirms that one of its container ships has been hit

The container ship “San Antonio”, flying the Maltese flag and belonging to the French shipowner CMA CGM, was “the subject of an attack” on Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, the group confirmed.

The attack left “injured crew members” who were “evacuated and treated”, and caused “damage” to the ship, added CMA CGM in a brief press release to AFP. Britain’s maritime safety agency UKTMO previously reported that a ship was hit at around 1830 GMT on Tuesday by a “projectile of unknown origin”.

. South Lebanon: Israel calls for evacuation of 12 villages

The Israeli army has called for the evacuation of twelve villages in southern Lebanon, before probable strikes targeting, according to it, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move away (…) at least 1,000 meters to open areas,” wrote on his account X Avichai Adraee, the spokesperson for the Israeli army in Arabic.

. Hormuz: Trump suspends US boat escort operation

Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he would suspend the American operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, in place for only a day, in order to reach an agreement with Iran to end the war in the Middle East.

The US president said on his Truth Social platform that “great progress” had been made in the negotiations, and that the suspended “Project Freedom” would be paused “for a short period” to see if an agreement could “be finalized and signed”.

. Draft American resolution at the UN on Hormuz

The head of American diplomacy Marco Rubio announced that the United States was proposing a resolution to the UN Security Council to “defend freedom of navigation and secure the Strait of Hormuz”.

The draft resolution, developed with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, “demands that Iran cease attacks, mining and all tolling” in the strait, the secretary of state specifies in a press release.

. Rubio assures that the offensive phase of the war is “over”

Marco Rubio assured that the offensive phase of the conflict with Iran was “over” during a press conference at the White House.

“We have passed this stage,” he declared, insisting that Washington was now in a “defensive” phase, with a new operation announced by Donald Trump and called “Project Freedom”.

. Iran ‘categorically’ denies attacking the Emirates

The Iranian military command “categorically” denied having attacked the United Arab Emirates, which said on Tuesday that it had activated its air defense for the second consecutive day, in the face of missiles and drones fired from Iran.

“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have not carried out any missile or drone operations against the UAE in recent days,” said Armed Forces Command Headquarters spokesman Khatam Al-Anbiya, quoted by state television.

. Americans ready to return to the fight

The United States assured Tuesday that it was ready to restart hostilities in the event of an Iranian response to its action in the Strait of Hormuz, the day after skirmishes and a resumption of Iranian strikes on the Emirates.

“If you attack American troops or innocent merchant ships, you will face overwhelming and devastating American force,” warned US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, addressing Iranian officials.

The American army “is ready to resume major combat operations” if the order is given, declared its chief of staff, Dan Caine, present at his side.

AFP